Our School House

Deb: I think I have said before in the blog that New Year’s Eve never feels like a new year to me. The day after Labour Day is always my New Year’s Day. I think many of us feel this way. We have been conditioned through the years to retain those back to school butterflies that mean new opportunities, second, third, and forth chances to get it right, and adventure. I’ve long since stopped buying binders and three-hole paper, pencil crayons and protractors (yes I am THAT old), but the feeling of “new” never leaves me.

At this transitional time when the days remain warm and the nights cool down it takes me back to that time of learning. Would that I had craved learning when it was my brain sponge time, when every fact was soaked up and stored in my spongie brain locker! I wish I had yearned every day as I do now, to discover something new. I could insert “youth is wasted on the young” right now, but I won’t. I did of course have my passions—does Mad magazine count? But I wasn’t hungry for it like I am now.

So this year, as Labour Day (boy’s birthday) came and went and my butterflies returned, my mind was right in the pocket of the learning space. I was craving the classes, yearning for the learn. So although I did not go back to school per se, I did start to work on a children’s book, started ukulele classes, and am going to try to learn to ride a horse.

But more fulfilling than my individual pursuits is the fact that our house is the hall of learning right now. The whole house feels so creative and I am loving the forward vibes I am feeling every day. As you all know, the boy and his girl moved in with us and it is perfect and fun. She is in school, steeped in the world of academia that I always craved but never had. Watching her head out to the ivy-covered walls of U of T every day puts me in mind of Love Story and the ivy-covered walls of Harvard. The girl reminds me of Jenny Cavilleri in her cute little put-together outfits, her arms full of books. I sooooo wanted to be Jenny in that movie! More specifically, I wanted to be the beautiful student and musician Jenny, not the dying Jenny!

The boy, for his part, is working on resumés, while gathering his list of connections to reach out to, and formulating film ideas. They are at the beginning of their careers and it is so wonderful to see and be a part of it. My husband just finished his final edit of his book, his creative end to a year of work.

And not to be outdone, our dog, the Bairn, is in school too . We are training her and shaping her into the easy dog about town we want her to be and she is an excellent student. So I am teacher and student. In lieu of an apple she gives me a constantly wagging tail. School’s in session here in the Mochrie McGrath house.

And the miracle is, unlike high school, I don’t want to skip.

Barbara: It’s funny, even though I remember myself being pretty studious and into school, when I look back at that youthful time, I really feel like I wasted it, spending more time thinking about getting certain grades than actually listening to the lessons in the lessons. Since as an adult I’ve discovered the error of my ways, I love love LOVE to be in a classroom environment and to be learning. Another funny thing, without realizing you’ve been signing up for lessons here and there, Deb, I’m also looking into signing up for some. Not sure if I’m too late for this semester, but am crossing my fingers the little school house has room for one more open mind.